Italy September 2023: Jeep Avenger cracks Top 10, sales up 22.8%

The Jeep Avenger breaks into the Italian Top 10 for the first time.

136,283 new cars hit Italian roads in September, corresponding to a 22.8% year-on-year surge on September 2022 which was already up 5.4% on the year prior. We now are just -4.9% below pre-pandemic September 2019 which is encouraging. Year-to-date, the market has gained over 200,000 units compared to last year at 1,176,882 (+20.6%) but remains 300,000 sales (-20.3%) off the first 9 months of 2019. Most notable in the propulsion split is BEV losing ground year-on-year at -1.9% to 4,992 and just 3.6% share vs. 4.5% a year ago and 3.9% year-to-date.

Private sales match the market at +23.1% year-on-year in August to 81,899 and 59.1% share, identical to September 2022. Self registrations surge 92.6% to 17,456 and 12.6% vs 8% a year ago, long term leases edge up 6.2% to 28,882 and 20.8% share vs. 24.2% last year, short term rentals sink -34.5% to 1,739 and 1.3% share vs. 2.4% in September 2022 and company sales gain 20.5% to 8,646 and 6.2% share vs. 6.4%. Year-to-date, private sales are up 11.9% to 655,000 and 54.9% vs. 59.2% over the same period in 2022, self registrations gain 37.9% to 116,757 and 9.8% share vs. 8.6%, long term leases soar 36.2% to 295,029 and 24.7% share vs. 21.9%, short term rentals are up 29.6% to 57,392 and 4.8% vs. 4.5% a year ago and company sales advance 19.3% to 69,390 and 5.8% share vs. 5.9% last year. 

In term of propulsion, petrol beats the market at +32.4% to 40,596 and 29.3% share vs. 27.2% in September 2022, diesel edges down -1.3% to 21,475 and 15.5% share vs. 19.3%, LPG is up 13.8% to 11,122 and 8% share vs. 8.7%, HEVs surge 36.2% to 54,795 and 39.5% share vs. 35.7% a year ago, that includes 15,323 full hybrids (+49.4%) and 39,472 mild hybrids (+31.6%). PHEVs are up 24.4% to 5,543 and 4%, same as September 2022, and as we saw earlier BEVs are actually down this month at -1.9%. Year-to-date, petrol is up 22.7% to 337,060 and 28.2% share vs. 27.8% over the same period in 2022, diesel is up 11.1% to 222,685 and 18.7% share vs. 20.3% last year, LPG gains 25.1% to 105,885 and 8.9% share vs. 8.6%, HEVs are up 27.6% to 426,499 and 35.7% share vs. 33.8% a year ago, that includes 113.337 full hybrids (+29.3%) and 313,162 mild hybrids (+26.9%). PHEVs edge up 8.9% to 64,049 and 4.5% share vs. 5% last year and BEVs are up 27.6% to 46,063 and 3.9% share vs. 3.7% a year ago.

In the brands ranking, Fiat (+13.1%) loses share year-on-year again but at 11.8% of its home market, it bounces back up from the 10.8% it hit last month. Toyota (+25%) overtakes Volkswagen (+21.3%) to climb to the 2nd spot overall for the second time in history after October 2022. Renault (+20.1%) surges five spots on August to #4 ahead of Ford (+16%) while Peugeot (+62.2%) impresses as do Jeep (+109.4%) and Dacia (+35%) in the remainder of the Top 10. Below and in order of sales, BMW (+33.6%), Suzuki (+57.5%), Nissan (+54.1%), MG (+495.2%), Alfa Romeo (+39.7%), Cupra (+44.9%) – selling almost double its sister brand Seat – and Land Rover (+61.8%) are among the best performers. Note Tesla (-25%) enduring a very rare year-on-year drop at #30.

Model-wise, the Fiat Panda (+16.9%) can’t quite match the market growth but scores a 6.9% share vs. 6.2% so far this year. The Dacia Sandero (+62.9%) returns to the 2nd spot it holds year-to-date, and is followed by The Fiat 500 (+15.2%) overtaking the Lancia Ypsilon (+2.3%). The Toyota Yaris Cross (+63.2%) climbs back up six spots on August to #5, a ranking it now holds over the first 9 months of the year. Below the Citroen C3 (+30.2%) and VW T-Roc (+76.2%), the new Jeep Avenger breaks into the Italian Top 10 for the first time at #8, eclipsing its previous best of #11 reached last July. Note 96.5% of Avenger sales for the month are the petrol variant and 94.5% so far this year. It is sold as EV-only in the rest of Europe, France notably. Further down, the Peugeot 208 (+76.7%), 2008 (+150%) and MG ZS (+611.2%) all shine.

Previous month: Italy August 2023: Dacia (+42.1%), Jeep (+106.4%) impress in market up 12%

One year ago: Italy September 2022: Toyota Aygo X in Top 10, market up 5.4%

Full September 2023 Top 45 All brands and Top 50 models below.